As the end of my internship draws near and I look back at all I have learned, one thing sticks out: I have been surprised by how exciting analyzing primary sources can be. I watched as teachers at our workshops sat with images in front of them, and their facial expressions went from an initial blank stare to expressions of full engagement and wonder as they looked at every detail of an image to answer questions like: What is the image trying to convey? Why? Who created it? In groups, the teachers became excited students working together to analyze an image.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is one of the most often taught in American literature classes. However, the further we move away chronologically from 1922, a time of economic boom following the devastation of World War I, the less students know about this significant time between the Great War and the War to end all Wars.
A colleague and I were recently invited into a classroom at The River School in Washington, D.C., which provides "educational experiences for children and their families uniting the best practices of early childhood education and oral deaf education."
I had been looking for ways to integrate research skills for a fifth grade class that is currently studying space and motion. The new Library of Congress "Understanding the Cosmos" eBook gave a great selection of primary sources that could help support that topic.
One way for teachers to engage students with poetry is to connect poems and poets to historical events. Students gain a deeper appreciation of poets and their work when they can see snippets of the writer's life in the work.
What do scientists do? This simple prompt was central in one activity during the inaugural week-long Seminar for Science Educators held at the Library this summer.
One way to engage students with the wealth of maps available from the Library of Congress is to discuss their value as sources of information as well as means to find a location or plan a route.
Welcome (or welcome back!) to Teaching with the Library of Congress, where we hope you discover and discuss the most effective techniques for using Library of Congress primary sources in the classroom. We invite readers to engage with topics ranging from What Makes a Primary Source a Primary Source? to what's happening "next month in history?" Here are staff picks for places to start - or continue - teaching with primary sources.
